Brian Wenckebach and Evageila Maravelias hail from New York and they refer to their music as “blissed-out ambience with head-nodding beats”. They’re actually selling themselves short because their music is made of robust material, heavily geared towards addictive melodies. For ‘Trying Got Us Nowhere’ is a clever mixture of New Order-style basslines, often energetic electro/indie pop and strident female vocals.
‘The Whip’ is busy with electronica but its supercharged production rushes headlong towards an exicting chorus. ‘Nowhere’ begins in a more doleful, subdued mode helped by Maravelias’ crystal clear vocals on the verse. The song then transforms into a wordless but hook-laden chorus. At the softer end of the spectrum, ‘To The End’ takes a slower, trippier approach (although this song evolves into a loud finale) whilst the bittersweet ‘They’ll Hate Us’ cleverly weaves disturbing lyrics into an apparently dreamy experience .
Elika remind me of a less-dated, more tuneful Garbage with Maravelias’ cool vocals also reminiscent of New Order’s Gillian Gilbert, whose own The Other Two project bears comparison too. With that band in mind, ‘Let Down’ is the formula in its most sugary form; it boasts a radio-friendly chorus of head-spinning proportions. For a first album, ‘Trying Got Us Nowhere’ sounds surprisingly complete with each song offering something memorable and - although its influences are many - the duo have clearly hit on a product that they can call their own.
Web Sites:
Elika’s Microsite
Elika MySpace
Further Listening:
Garbage, The Other Two, Madonna
I myself just posted a review of this album today, and what’s amazing is how similar our angles are on the CD. I also note an obvious and wide array of influences, but somehow Elika manage to weave it all together into something uniquely theirs–it’s a strange and impressive feat. Pretty good stuff–both the album and your review.